(Credit: Nintendo)
The YouTube app for the Nintendo Switch 2 remains in development, leaving many gamers frustrated that they can’t watch videos as they could on the original Switch. A new workaround for playing YouTube was discovered and shared last week, but it has since been closed down.
The workaround used a free game on Switch 2 called Super Animal Royale, which has an embedded news feed on its title screen. If you found a YouTube video here, you could then press the "Watch on YouTube" button, which opened a built-in, hidden browser for searching and playing videos.
It was limited: it wouldn’t play anything above 360p quality, and it couldn’t exit full-screen mode. You also couldn’t sign in to your YouTube account, and some thumbnails didn’t work as expected.
Hours after the workaround went viral, it stopped working. As spotted by NotebookCheck, the game soon began showing an error code of 2800-1230 when a player tried to launch the hidden browser.
It’s not clear whether Nintendo made the change or whether it came from the developer of Super Animal Royale. It was a swift action, suggesting Nintendo wanted to shut down this workaround as soon as possible.
Now, players who want to watch YouTube on their Switch 2 will need to keep waiting for an official app.
We’ve yet to find out what is causing the delay, especially since YouTube was ready to go at launch on other modern consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series. YouTube told users it was working on an app for Switch 2 back in June 2025, but we've yet to hear anything more.
Nintendo doesn't list any video streaming apps on its Switch 2 storefront, even though the console is nearing its first birthday. The original Switch continues to play YouTube through an official app, plus there are other streaming apps, such as anime service Crunchyroll.